Experiment 199

Chapter 1: The Start of a Friendship

                I awoke on the cold floor of my cell, shivering from the blasts of cold air shooting through the overhead vents. Cell was a bit of an understatement since I was literally lying in a human-sized cage with heavy iron bars on all four walls.

                I rubbed my hands together in an attempt to create some form of heat, but it proved useless like it had so many times before. These were times were I actually wished I had a fur coat to keep my warm. I stopped, figuring I was wasting energy that I might need later on. I fell onto my back and tried to fall back asleep, but the moans of all the other children continued to keep me awake. Despite the shroud of darkness that surrounded the holding cell, I could see clear as day what these kids were going through.

                A girl, who looked only a few years younger than me, was shriveled up in the corner of her cell, shaking back and forth and screaming out in pain as a pair of featherless wings began to sprout out of her back. I almost cried as a young girl, only five years old, cried dry tears and heaved as gills started to rip their way out of her neck. A boy moaned as his skin turned scaly and dry as he turned into a long and coiled snake.

                I exhaled deeply, knowing all too well what these kids were going through, wishing it would all stop. I continually question my own safety with each day that passed, wondering whether it’s even worth it to try and escape. What if I do break out, what will happen to me then? Will I be killed as a monster for the United States Government so I can be continued to be examined?

                But it doesn’t matter. No matter how hard I scream, no one will ever save me.

                Because no one ever listens.

                Except, as I looked around the room, one test stuck out in particular.

                He was a boy, looked about my age, and he sat curled up in the corner of his own cage, rocking back and forth. He didn’t make any noise but I could visibly see his lean muscles ripple over his entire body. His fingers spread out and curled as they began to turn into large paws, five inch claws replacing his fingernails. I watched in horror as his pale skin began to bubble up and then be replaced by tufts of spotted fur all over his body. He opened his mouth wide almost as if he was ready to scream as saber-like fangs replaced his teeth. A long, slim tail grew from his lower back and short round ears grew at the top of his head. His hair had been replaced as his face began to distort, turning him into a noble creature.

                The king of the jungle, the jaguar.

                In all of my years of staying here at King’s Journey, I’ve seen almost every animal imaginable. Most of the times they were animals considered big and strong, but other times I’ve seen the smaller breeds that still pack a bunch. Among them all I’ve seen rhinos, elephants, foxes, bats, a variety of dog and cat species, eagles, falcons, lions, and almost everything you could imagine. But, this is the first jaguar I’ve seen.

                Not only is a jaguar strong, fast, and cunning, but it is also very rare.

                For the genes of a jaguar to be extracted, it means you would have to trap one first. Trapping a jaguar is a feat on its own, but not to be killed in the process is even more amazing. Known for terrorizing villages of people, stealing children for meals, and even killing their own kind, a jaguar is a true killer.

                Some people may find this boy a threat, but I think he is lucky. To have that much power shouldn’t go to waste. Somehow I had a feeling that this boy would become one of the rare experiments that become the scientists’ pride and joy.